Student-athletes are people too. This shouldn’t come to a surprise to anybody, yet for some reason it needs to be said. It is abhorrent the way a lot of fans treat student-athletes, particularly on social media.
There are so many times that Twitter feeds from fans are filled with “I hate Chad Kelly” after he throws an interception. They’re more than likely the same people that line up hours in advance to give them a high-five on a Grove Saturday.
It’s easy to be mean behind the screen of a cell phone or a computer. It makes it seem less personal. However, people read that. Players read that. Players’ families, friends and significant others read that. One tweet has the power to really hurt a large group of people.
Some may argue that’s the price for putting on a jersey. Playing a sport means that one should expect that kind of hate. It is true that playing a sport makes one subject to public criticism, but there is a line. There is no price that one can pay to take away human dignity. Feel free to criticize on-field play. That is fair game. However, when a team’s own fans resort to personal attacks, it goes too far.
If sports mean so much to somebody, that one’s opinion on a person and mood for the day, completely resides on a college student’s performance on the field, then it is time to reevaluate one’s priorities. There are so many things more important in life than whether the Rebels win or lose. It should not affect somebody so much that they write hate mail or hate tweets to players.
On a list of priorities, the outcome of a college sporting event should be fairly down the list. Sports can be great because they bring so many people together. Unfortunately, the dark side is that people with no control over the outcome get so worked up about the final score that they decide that letting the players know how much they “hate them” is a splendid idea.
Ole Miss is not the only school where this type of hatred happens. There are stories of basketball players transferring because they got death threats from fans following a few bad games. This is insane. Student-athletes are human beings. They aren’t robots that solely exist to play a game. It’s important to remember that just because they are public figures does not mean it’s okay to take human dignity away from them.
Not to mention, is letting a student-athlete know that random person with egg avatar on Twitter hates him productive? No. It doesn’t help make the student-athlete improve on his game. It will not change the outcome of future events. All it does is spread more negativity in a world that has already reached its quota.
This isn’t just about being nice to athletes. This is a soul issue. There is something wrong with the soul if one’s happiness is defined by the actions of 18- to 22-year-old college students. It’s time for a reality check for fan bases everywhere. Treat student-athletes like the humans they are, not a commodity that only exists to play a sport. Win or lose, remember to treat people with dignity.
Matt Barnthouse is a journalism major from Carmel, Indiana.
